


Problems Yet to be Solved

by Lello (Yaruka)



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cute, Cute Ending, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, M/M, Sad, Sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-10 17:23:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17430260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yaruka/pseuds/Lello
Summary: An AU where instead of being stuck in the mafia and enduring years of torture by Dino, Ash ended up getting out before he became a important to the mafia. He got a job at a coffee shop once he turned sixteen and has been trying to keep on the down-low until he knows that he is safe. When an injured customer comes in, he just can't ignore him. He learns through him that there's more to life than just surviving.





	1. The Rabbit and the Lynx

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't written for such a long time, it's absurd. The updates will probably be either once or twice a month just so I can keep the quality up. Everything I write will be as high quality as I can make it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter since I just need a good start up. :)

 The ambience of a coffee house is much more different from the ambience in New York, that's obvious. In coffee houses, you get quiet customers who go there to read books or listen to music, they rarely come just to make noise. In New York, you have blaring car horns and rude people bumping all around, happy to make as much noise as possible. Coffee shops constantly have the intense yet wonderful smell of coffee, with a hint of chocolate. New York has the smell of trash and other people's problems. In coffee houses, you get to drift away with a warm cup and relax and in New York, you get hunted down by not only the noises but the people. Of course, anyone would hate the people in New York if they had been through what he had been through. 

Ash smiled slightly as he poured the last coffee of the day, ignoring the staring from the female customer. He had been at work for almost 12 hours already. The first to arrive and the last to leave. His exhaustion was apparent to anyone who looked hard enough. He handed her the coffee, giving her his usual work smile, one that was purely fake. "That will be 4.50." The girl shyly pulled out her wallet when she heard her total. She gave him exact change and left a .50 cent tip, blushing when she turned to leave.

Ash grimaced and glared at the girl as he watched her go. "Cheap ass." He grumbled this under his breath, letting the quiet of the shop calm him. He had only been working at the coffee shop for a year but his mere presence has caused an increase in the number of girls visiting the shop. 

Once she left he pulled out a rag, thinking as he cleaned. His mind drifted off and he turned on some music to play in the background. His mind drifted to his life before the coffee shop and the one before that. He thought about what would have happened if he had never told any of the adults about the man molesting him or if Dino hadn’t kidnapped him. When distracting himself, it's easy for Ash to ignore the ‘if’s of his life. It’s hard to ignore when he’s alone, though.

Ash turned his head at the sound of the door opening. He smiled when he saw who had walked through. "Hey Shorter." 

Shorter smirked and closed the door, he was a bit exotic looking, not including the fact that he's Chinese. He had an eye-catching electric purple hair with the sides shaved off. "Hey Ash, how's the boring life treating you?"

Ash scoffed and walked around the counter he was cleaning to give Shorter a hug. "More like the safe life. It's surprisingly calm, It took a long time to really feel like I was off of Dino's radar. Even so, I do still carry my gun with me." 

Shorter nodded, leading the two towards a small table in the corner. "It's almost impossible for me to visit you without having someone try to follow me... do you even keep up practice with that weapon of yours?" 

"Yes, I do. I have to, in case one of your daily visits attracts trouble." Ash gave Shorter a slight side eye, half serious half joking. 

"Well," Shorter chuckled, "You never know what's going to happen." 

“Like my best friend leading a gang to me?” Ash smirked and stood up. He grabbed a rag and began to wipe down the old wood style tables. 

Shorter smiled and followed Ash’s lead. “You know, even after these 3 years, Dino is still looking for you.”

Ash paused, “It’s because I'm the only one he ever trained completely. I know too much.”

”He also thinks you’re very beautiful.” 

Ash continued to work and looked away from Shorter. “I’ll never go back. I’ve worked too hard to live a comfortable life.”

**BAM**

Both Ash and Shorter jumped, hastily dropping the rags and pulling out their guns. Though, once they saw what the noise was they lowered the weapons. A boy had slammed the door open and fallen to the floor. He was now struggling on the floor.

"Shit! Ash, he’s bleeding!" Shorter quickly rushed to the boy, assessing any injuries he had. 

Ash couldn't help but stand and stare at the boy, he had brown hair with specks of blood in it and scratches littered one of his cheeks. Blood was gushing out of his arm, what could only be from a gunshot. Shorter struggled to hold onto him and blood began to stain his clothes. He tore some of his shirt and tied it around the stranger’s arm. The boy opened his eyes and Ash's breath caught in his throat. 

They were sparkling, despite the fact that they were a dark chocolate brown. The boy's tears were water glimmering under a sunset, building up and then falling onto his shirt. 

The boy held tightly onto Shorter and managed to get two words out, "Thank you." as soon as the words left his lips he passed out.

Ash couldn't tell if he had passed out from blood loss or exhaustion, but he did know that he heard voices outside the shop.

Despite all his efforts through the past years, he knew he couldn't let these men, mafia or not, get a hold of this helpless boy after he literally landed on his doorstep. "Shorter. We need to hide him in the back!" 

Shorter nodded, quickly standing up and pulling the boy along with him. They reached the back of the shop and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do you think could have happened to this kid?" Shorter said this, looking up from the boy to Ash.

Ash didn't respond, he only stared at the defenceless boy. It was like looking at a wounded rabbit.  _What happened to you..._

 


	2. Frightened Rabbit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made it much longer, I hope you all enjoy. (I need some way to cope with my Banana Fish depression lmao) Also, I know Ash may be acting bitchy and a bit ooc but it's explained in the chapter.

 

"Ash, are you sure we should keep him here instead of taking him to the hospital?"

Ash sighed "Of course I'm not sure. But we don't know if they're still looking for him." he stretched for a moment and gazed around his apartment. It was pretty small, the kitchen was actually attached to the living room. Besides that, it had only had one bedroom and one bathroom. The walls were a bright white and it had two windows that gave him a view of the street below him. The apartment had been scrubbed clean, but somehow there was a hint of mold in the air. Ash thought about the difference compared to his small gang hideout. The one he shared was dirty and was littered with graffiti but somehow, it seemed more homely than the apartment he was in.

"Not everyone is involved in the Mafia, Ash. It really could be a normal kidnapping." Shorter frowned. "You've been acting different ever since you got off of Dino's radar. What if this guy is really hurt?"

"I know, I've been acting like a coward. It just feels like a calm before the storm." Ash thought about how he used to act, cold and heartless. He thought back to life with Dino and couldn't help but feel that acting cowardly was the answer. Though, that wouldn't last for long. "But you can't deny that the kidnappings in New York are almost always related to him."

Shorter shook his head, "At least he's alive and away from whoever kidnapped. If he really ran from Dino or one of his men, we'll just get them off his trail and he can go back to his normal life."

"Of course we will. Honestly, he looks a bit foreign." Ash stood up and took his gun out from its holster, setting it on the counter. He went through a mental list of countries that the boy could be from and thought about his accent in the few words he had said. In the end, he settled on Japan. "If he is, then it makes this all much easier for us to get him away."

"It could have just been a regular kidnapping, but... he looked pretty messed up..." Shorter suddenly fell silent, his eyes drifting away from Ash.

Ash turned around and saw the topic of their discussion walk out of his bedroom, holding onto the wall for support. "W-where am I? Who are you?" Though his English was good, there was definitely an accent behind it, it was much more recognizable now that Ash had his full attention on it. Shorter hurriedly walked over to his side and helped the boy to the couch. Ash kept his composure, despite the boy obviously shivering.

"My name is Ash. You fell onto the ground at my job trying to get away from somebody." Ash had put on his poker face on as he cautiously approached the couch. "We need to know what happened to you."

"Uhm- my name is Eiji. I'm from Japan." As he struggled to get his words out, he looked around, finally taking in his surroundings. "Wait. Why aren't we at the hospital?"

Ash saw Eiji stiffen up and quickly began to reassure him. "We didn't know if you're kidnapping was a normal one or one that involved gangs. If it's gang-related, then they're probably still looking for you."

"Gang-related?" Eiji was getting a better handle on his words. He slowly relaxed back onto the couch and scratched his neck. "I don't know, but I there were a lot of names being mentioned."

Shorter leaned on the couch from where he was. He had stood behind Eiji after helping him sit down. "You gotta be more specific, man."

Eiji nodded and scrunched up his face as he thought, "Well there was an Alex, but they seemed more like they were trash talking him than him actually being there..."

Shorter and Ash exchanged a look. Alex had been Ash's second-in-command when he was still involved in the gangs of New York. Ash could never imagine Alex ever going to join Dino and hearing that Alex was still disliked by Dino brought a sliver of a smile to his face.

"Right before I was rescued I heard them mention something about taking me to someone named Dino-"

"Damn." Ash interrupted Eiji and stood up from where he was sitting, the cushion slowly rising back up after him. "Look, you aren't safe. If they were taking you to Dino... you were either going to die or become a sex slave."

Shorter laughed awkwardly, "Ash, that was kind of harsh."

"What?!" Eiji seemed to finally realize the gravity of his situation. After he calmed himself down, he looked over to Shorter who had suddenly become quiet. It was silent for only a moment more. As they sat in silence, the sounds around them became louder, things like the beeping of car horns or the yelling in the streets. Even so, it was nothing compared to living in the heart of New York, where the action never ceased.

Shorter suddenly spoke. "You mentioned being rescued?"

"Oh, yes, he had short brown hair and thin eyebrows. I'm pretty sure he was wearing a blue shirt, maybe a black one underneath. They said they'd hold off my kidnappers as I ran. Actually, before I was kidnapped, they were at the bar I had gone to when I was investigating gangs. "

"That was Alex." Ash smiled fondly, remembering his old friend. He thought about all the tough times he had been through with him, along with his entire gang. His emotion was quickly gone. "Ok, we need to get you back to Japan."

"How did you know I was from Japan?"

"Lucky guess."

Eiji shook his head, "Well whatever, I'm not letting myself go back to Japan until I thank you. It's all my fault that you have to deal with this. I'm very sorry." 

"You didn't choose to get kidnapped. What in the world are you talking about?" Ash couldn't help but give Eiji a look of pure confusion. 

"But I still made you deal with me, I apologize."

Eiji stood up and began to bow but Ash stopped him. "You didn't choose to get kidnapped."

It was dead quiet until Shorter broke the silence. "Ok, um, Eiji, let's just get you home, ok?"

"I need to do something to repay you. Both of you." Eiji said this definatly, with only a bit of hesitation at the beginning.

Ash could only sigh, knowing that this wasn't going to end how he planned it. He stared at Eiji, scanning him. Ash could tell that he had a good heart and that his intentions were true. "...it's late. We can just leave tomorrow morning."

"Ugh, Ash! He needs to get home." Shorter rolled his eyes.

"Well, I can't say no. I mean, he is an adult, right?" Ash turned to Eiji, "You aren't like fifteen right?

Eiji turned a rosy red, "I'm nineteen!"

Shorter laughed, "You're scrawny for your age!"

Eiji's blush only deepened, "I'm a pole jumper! I'm one of the biggest people I know!"

Ash laughed at the exchange, his first real one in a while. He could see that Eiji and Shorter got along like old friends, possibly due to their friendly exteriors. As he listened and watched their conversation, Ash had a sincere smile drawn across his face. Eiji was revealing to Ash something that he had never really realized. It was the fact that someone could do something for you out of kindness, to have no other motives. There would be a lot more that Eiji would teach Ash.


End file.
